Department of Justice

Buffalo Man Sentenced on Gun Charge

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Jimmy Lee Barner, 35, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of being a felon-in-possession of a firearm and violating supervised release, was sentenced to 70 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who handled the case, stated that on December 7, 2016, Amherst, NY police officers stopped a vehicle in connection with a report of larceny from a Kohl’s department store on Transit Road in Williamsville, NY.

The defendant was one of four occupants and was sitting in the front passenger seat. Stolen merchandise was recovered from some of the occupants. A subsequent search of the vehicle for additional items of stolen property resulted in the seizure of a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol from the glove box. The firearm was loaded with nine rounds of ammunition. Subsequently, a DNA sample was taken from Barner to compare with DNA collected from the firearm. Testing confirmed that the defendant’s DNA was on the firearm.

Barner was previously convicted of local charges in Erie County Court as well as federal charges in the Western District of New York of and is legally prohibited from carrying a firearm.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan Benedict, and the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Askey.